30 November to 13 December Western Australia (South)

 Wednesday 30 November

Exmouth

I rode to Tantabiddi for a 0900 meet.  I got into conversation with a middle aged Irish couple which we continued onboard, and afterwards.  It was a good tour lasting over three hours.  There were only 10 onboard, two couples, a family of five and me.  We were able to see the reef activity through the glass panels and I was reminded of our trip to the Great Barrier Reef some years ago when colours appear very muted just a few feet below the surface as light is filtered by the sea water. 

We stopped for two 40 minutes’ snorkelling sessions and I was able to see the amazing array of multicoloured and fascinating fish populating the reef.  The Ningaloo reef is the world’s largest ‘fringing reef’, as opposed to barrier reef, and one of the longest near-shore reef systems in the world.  Unlike the Great Barrier Reef it has not suffered bleaching because of the influence of cold waters coming from the south.  The boat had a crew of two, Matt and Lucy.  Lucy gave an informative commentary and chatting with Matt revealed an interesting career including 4 years as part of the crew of Roman Abramovich‘s yachts.  Coincidentally the family, who were from Brisbane, ate in the same restaurant as me the night before and they remembered seeing me.  And the husband complained of eating too much!

Thursday 1 December

Exmouth - Carnarvon

I left at 0820 at 32C.  The paper map showed a sealed road all the way down the west side of the peninsula to join the main road to the south so I opted to take that route.  I effectively retraced my steps of the previous two days stopping occasionally to admire the view and take photos. 

My satnav showed that I should turn back but I thought it must have been transfixed on the original route and that its map database was out of date or that it would eventually recalculate.  I reached Yardie Creek where the tarmac ended at a car park.  I saw a sandy track which clearly was not a regular unsealed road.  I looked at Google Maps on my phone which corresponded to the satnav.  I turned back and stopped at the Cape Range National Park information centre.  I discovered that beyond Yardie Creek there is a tidal creek to cross before 45 kilometres of badly corrugated sandy unsealed road which is not recommended to travel.  I was glad I decided to turn around but it added 170 kilometres (3 hours after coffee etc) to my journey.  Of course I travelled through the flat coastal plain again until about 80 kms from Carnarvon with the customary low brush and spinafex grass.  The strong wind was coming from the south west and so was against me most of the way.  The temperature slowly fell to 28℃ as I gained height.  I dropped into Coral Bay discovering that it is a small coastal settlement consisting basically of a couple of eateries and two caravan parks.  The one cafe/general store was closed but there was a nice small sheltered beach. 

I refuelled at Minilya after rejoining the North West Coastal Highway and crossing the Tropic of Capricorn.  I must have crossed it heading north some weeks before but I don't remember seeing any signs indicating so.

I reached the large Carnarvon Motel at 1745 and was allocated a very large family room.  Sadly the shower head fell apart but I was able to get sufficient flow to wash.  I did notice a marked absence of raptors on the day's ride, perhaps indicating less prey, e.g. small rodents, frogs, reptiles, in this type of terrain.

563 kms travelled.

Friday 2 December

Carnarvon - Denham

I left at 0900 @ 26℃.  I meandered around town looking for fuel.  It was still windy with a southwesterly, again not in my favour.  The landscape for the first few hours was much as before, flat with low scrub. After a while I encountered some hills and at one point I rode up to a viewpoint which afforded a panoramic view of the surroundings.

I had planned to refuel at Wooramel Roadhouse but it was closed.  Fortunately I wasn't desperate for fuel and was able to top up a little later at the Overlander Roadhouse before turning off the highway onto the Hamelin Denham Road and then the Shark Bay Road.  Shark Bay is a World Heritage Area and the 120 kms long road afforded great views of the azure blue sea beyond the bush. 

I had seen a number of feral goats before reaching the Overlander Roadhouse but none beyond.  I discovered that a concerted effort is underway to rid the area of these animals because they cause great damage to local flora, grazing new shoots and stripping shrubs of greenery up to 2 metres high as they are able to reach so high by standing on their hind legs.  I arrived in Denham and cruised the beach road looking for my accommodation which was a pleasant apartment across the road from the beach. 

It was a little windy sitting on the verandah admiring the view but the wind gradually eased.

334 kms travelled.

Saturday 3 December

Denham

Rest day.  My left Achilles tendon was very sore.  The problem began after a long walk in Darwin and I thought it had settled down but it had flared up after a longish walk in Exmouth.  I called into the local pharmacy and was recommended Voltaren, an anti-inflammatory.  I walked a short distance for coffee and then spent two hours in the Shark Bay Information Centre and museum.  I spent the rest of the day resting and typing my blog.

Beautiful restored boat built in 1929 for pearl-dredging and fishing

Sunday 4 December

Denham - Kalbarri

I left at 0900 @ 25℃.  I rode the 23 kms to Monkey Mia.  As I left Denham an emu was slowly crossing the road in front of me.  I slowed down to walking pace to pass it and as I drew near it about turned and crossed rapidly close in front of me!  I passed the pretty Little Lagoon

and when I reached Monkey Mia all that was there was a car park, an information building and a caravan park.  It is famous because early each morning dolphins approach the beach to be fed by hand.  Clearly I was too late for that singular event.  I returned to Denham to refuel and on departing I saw another emu, this time it ran alongside me for a short distance.  I visited Eagle Bluff and from a clifftop vantage point I saw a shark swimming below in the clear shallow water. 

On reaching the North West Coastal Highway it was closed heading north.  I stopped at the Overlander Roadhouse and discovered that two road trains had collided head on, that there had been two fatalities, and that one had been carrying a liquid cargo which had spilled over the road.  The accident had happened at 1 a.m. so the road had been closed for 12 hours and there was a large queue of traffic, including more road trains.  As a consequence my journey south was very quiet for a long time with very little traffic going in my direction.  As I travelled south the terrain changed  from the familiar low bushes to gum trees and then, suddenly, to extensive arable farmland, chiefly growing cereals.

I wondered at the effort expended over many years, much of it manual before the introduction of machines, to clear the land for farming.  After turning off to Kalbarri I entered Kalbarri National Park and encountered vegetation I had not seen before.

I got a large en suite room for two nights, at a reasonable $90 per night, as England were due to play Senegal in the World Cup early on Monday.  Incidentally, I saw my first big red kangaroo today, sadly a victim of roadkill.

439 kms travelled.

Monday 5 December

Kalbarri

Well, I was frustrated again by Australia’s time zones.  I awoke at 0600 to watch the match but discovered I had missed it.  I had read the television transmission time without realising it was eastern time which is 3 hours ahead of Western Australia - I should have been up at 0300!  I walked to the beach and then Fishermen’s Wharf in a strong wind.  Again I spent some time typing the blog.  I had a long chat with the bloke in the next room, Mike, who had worked in mining for 18 years and he told me some fascinating tales of the industry, particularly about the enormous scale of many of the operations.  I had dinner in the Upstairs Restaurant and ate delicious snapper.

Tuesday 6 December

Kalbarri - Geraldton

Left at 0900 @ 26℃.  After refuelling I visited the cliffs for the spectacular views looking out over the ocean.  Needless to say, it was very windy. 

I understand that the three months from December to February are exceptionally windy on the southern part of the west coast.  Although uncomfortable at times it does reduce the temperature in the afternoons.  As I crested a hill I saw an expanse of pink ahead, the Hutt Lagoon. In 2020 I had visited Esperence in the south of Western Australia to see the famous pink lake, but it wasn't. There organisms which had given it its pink colour had died and it was no longer pink. Here apparently it's the extremely high level of salinity that gives the lagoon its unusual hue.

I stopped in Northampton for refreshments and, sadly, the town looked a little run down compared to other places I have visited. I decided to stay in Geraldton overnight as, although today’s mileage was not too great, I was tired from battling the strong wind all day after a poor night’s sleep.   I found the delightful Zebras guesthouse.  It was extremely comfortable and was decked out in an African safari theme.  The 6 rooms were named after African animals and there were numerous African artefacts dotted around.  It was if the owners had asked themselves what they would like a guesthouse to provide and went ahead and did so.  I met the owner, a South African Nurse married to a South African GP.  They had a local practice and had been in Australia for 19 years.  I rode to the local Woolworths supermarket and bought fresh prawns marinated in garlic and a Waldorf salad kit which I enjoyed for supper following a long conversation with a young Swedish couple, Christian and Sophia both of whom were radiographers holidaying in Australia.  They ran a company in Sweden and had been providing out of hours radiography services in their local hospital when the waiting list for an x-ray was 18 months.  Whilst speaking to them Christian received a text from home saying that the waiting list had reduced to zero and that their services were no longer required!

200 kms travelled.

Wednesday 7 December

Geraldton - Cervantes

I left at 0930 @ 25℃.  I rode around Geraldton before joining the Brand Highway heading south.  I stopped at the Central Greenough Historic Settlement where there are a number of preserved buildings including a school, police station/gaol/courtroom/police accommodation, a couple of churches and church buildings and a convent amongst others.  I have previously described roads and terrain as undulating. This photo illustrates what I mean.

I rode on and located Ian Boyd’s house in Jurien Bay which I was to visit the following day.  I had booked accommodation in Cervantes, a further 25 kms on, and arrived at a very spacious villa.  It was still very windy.  It was a short walk to the tavern where I enjoyed chilli mussels and a combined grilled fish dish, with chips of course.

230 kms travelled.

Thursday 8 December

Cervantes - Beechboro

I left at 0930 @ 25℃ for the 25 kms ride back to Jurien Bay.  I met Ian Boyd who appeared from his garage on a small motorised box/trike (he has mobility problems following surgery on his feet). 

We entered his workshop and there was an unrestored 1937 Ivory Calthorpe and a Vincent engined special on lifts awaiting dismantling ready for restoration.

We then moved into his ‘shed’ and wow, he owns an example of every Vincent motorcycle produced, including specials, and many other Vincent powered machines including an early target drone, a marinised lifeboat engine, a jet ski ……….  In addition he owns a number of other classic motorcycles and cars together with vintage outboard engines.  His is the largest collection of Vincents in the world. This room is part of his house and he emerges from his lounge directly into it.

 

He was a lobster fisherman who ended up owning a small fleet of boats and who retired just before the industry collapsed as a result of government imposed quotas.  I spent two and a half hours with him and in addition to his wealth of knowledge about motorcycles he had some great stories about some of the personalities he had met, including John Surtees with whom he had enjoyed a long friendship.  I took a number of photographs but they don’t begin to do justice to seeing all those iconic machines in the flesh.  I left him at 1230ish and continued south stopping at the Pinnacles Desert.  This is an eerie place which is a small sandy desert with a large number of limestone towers dotted around. 

It appears that ???? thousand years ago sea sand, which consists of crushed shells, mixed with land sand and the effect of water leaching through the mixture created limestone (this is my understanding).  This in turn was eroded by wind and water to form these pinnacles, although scientists cannot agree on exactly why they have formed as they have.  There was a 4.5 kms sandy track through the area which I nervously negotiated given my dislike of soft sand riding although I didn’t have any problems.  I reached Beechboro to the north of Perth via the Whiteman State Park (the highway was closed and I just followed my nose as my satnav was confused).  My digs were a b&b in a small bungalow at the end of a cul de sac in a residential area.  Quite comfortable although the stud partition wall between me and the family was not well soundproofed.

283 kms travelled.

Friday 9 December

I stayed local to Beechboro.  I walked to the local supermarket to buy provisions for supper and I had lunch in the Kabul Cafe, a real Afghan establishment together with a raised fully carpeted platform without furniture although I ate at a table.  I had a typical meal remembered from my time in Afghanistan 46 years ago, kebab, rice, naan, yoghurt and salad.  Just like the 70s.  I ate supper in my digs and typed the blog before watching tv.

Saturday 10 December

Beechboro - Perth

I left at 0830 @ 22℃.  I rode to Fremantle, a city not far south of Perth.  I visited the street where my brother Michael lived 45 years earlier. 

I stopped for coffee at a van on a green beside South Beach.  The beach was interesting in that it was a designated ‘dog beach’ and it was great to see a large number of dogs socialising and frolicking in the sea.

I meandered the coastal area and then through Fremantle itself.

I had lunch in the Zephyr cafe overlooking the busy Swan River.  I made my way into Perth and arrived at Baileys Motel at 1315.   After settling in I walked to the local IGA supermarket for provisions and the bottlo adjacent to the motel for a six pack.  My Achilles tendon is still quite sore and appears to be aggravated by my motorcycling boots.  Incidentally, I was surprised and impressed by the IGA.  Those I have used previously have been generally in rural locations and always appeared a little second rate.  This one in East  Perth is very much more upmarket with, for example, an extensive range of continental cheeses and various other more eclectic foodstuffs.  I heard a couple of fireworks displays in the evening and the following day I discovered I had missed two big Christmas events in the city.

78 kms travelled.

Sunday 11 December

I was up at 0230 to watch the England v France world cup football match.  Disappointed with the result I went back to bed and had another couple of hours’ sleep.  I caught the free bus into central Perth and walked around the CBD (central business district), i.e. city centre, including the Murray and Hay Street Malls (actually pedestrianised shopping streets),

Elizabeth Quay (with seasonal traditional fun fair)

and the Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower houses a number of bell collections including the original bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

A peal of twelve bells was cast by the famous Rudhall foundry in Gloucester a few years after the church was opened in 1722, and these bells rang out for over 250 years for Sunday services, as well as for royal, civic and national occasions.  By the 1980s the tower was showing signs of damage from the heavy bells. The bells themselves were in need of tuning and major overhaul. There was a proposal to break the bells up and recast them into a lighter, modern peal of twelve.  When Laith Reynolds, a Perth businessman, bellringer and entrepreneur, heard of the plan to recast the bells he engineered a deal whereby the twelve bells were donated to Western Australia as a gift to mark Australia’s Bicentenary in 1988. In return, Western Australian mining companies donated sufficient copper and tin to cast a new peal of twelve bells for St Martin-in-the-Fields. The new bells were cast and installed in 1988 and have rung out over London ever since.  Now known as the Swan Bells, the restored twelve bell ring was augmented by six bells to make a total of eighteen. The six new bells were cast in 1988 and 1998 at the historic Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London. The peal includes two semitone bells to make it possible to ring lighter octaves without using the heavier bells.  It was fascinating hearing and seeing them ring at their daily noon operation.  A little later a group of bellringers put the bells through their paces.  In addition  to these there are a number of other bells and timepieces making for a really interesting visit and all housed in a striking purpose built building.

I had a delicious late curry lunch in Northbridge, an older part of the city on ‘the other side of the tracks’.

Monday 12 December

Perth

I rode the bike to JCS Motorcycles for a service (its third annual service in three months) and a new front tyre.  Sadly there were no Pirelli tyres of the required size in Western Australia so I opted for a Dunlop Trailmax.  I returned by train to my accommodation where I accidentally uninstalled WhatsApp from my phone and spent 2 hours trying to recover previous chats. Eventually I managed to retrieve all apart from the previous two days.  I collected the bike at 1600 and bought a new pair of gloves to replace my old Hein Gericke ones which had started to disintegrate where the leather had rotted in places where sweat is absorbed.

I telephoned John Gliddon, the Ulysses guy who is looking after my bike whilst I am away for Christmas, to finalise arrangements for Wednesday.  He asked that I bring it forward by 24 hours as he had been offered a short notice operation on his back on Wednesday.  I spent some time organising my gear segregating the stuff I will be leaving with the bike and taking to Wagga in one bag.  

Tuesday 13 December

Perth

I woke up to rain!  I haven’t seen any of the wet stuff for ages.  The receptionist said it would soon stop - wrong.  So I donned my waterproof jacket and headed for Oakford, a 35 kms ride south of Perth.  It was 18℃, the lowest temperature experienced for over 2 months, and the waterproof top was a welcome addition to my warm weather mesh jacket.  I also wore waterproof gloves so my new ones have yet to get an outing.  I arrived at John Gliddon’s large property and parked alongside his two ST1300s in his very well kitted out garage.  He had owned a motor wheels/tyres business in Perth, coincidentally only two doors down from where I am staying, before retiring.  John drove me to the nearest railway station, Kwinana, and I returned to Perth where it was still raining.  I had lunch and as it was still raining and I was feeling the chill I bought an inexpensive light showerproof jacket in Kmart.  Popped into the Apple store to enquire about a MacBook Air.  The Chromebook I bought for the trip is driving me crazy; it’s very slow and cumbersome to use and an absolute pain when it comes to organising my photos and videos.  This blog takes an inordinate amount of time to post, for example.  That will teach me to go cheap!  I enquired at the railway station about left luggage as tomorrow I will be spending all day exploring Perth before my late night flight and I didn’t want to carry my heavyish bag.  I caught the bus back to East Perth and as I approached the motel I realised I had left the key card in the pocket of my motorcycling jeans back in Oakford.  $20 for a replacement: I explained that technically I hadn’t lost the card as I knew exactly where it was but I was charged nevertheless!

A day of museums and galleries tomorrow and the flight to Wagga Wagga via Sydney in the evening.